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The crafts that I love, cats and travel

They were just waiting for me to discover them

I was checking out some sewing techniques on the web yesterday and I accidentally came across some projects that were made out of selvages! Wait, surely not …. could they be those dreaded edges of fabric that we were told NEVER to use? How many have I thrown out over the years? OMG – a new world opened up as I saw what other people have been making out of these little strips; pot holders, bags, dresses even. Why didn’t I think of that …. obviously it’s the imagination thing again!

Anyway, I immediately went through my stash and here is the result .. ta dah .. my first selvage pot holder . Pretty darn cute don’t you think?

Sewing was delayed while Mischa had a cat nap

The front of the pot holder

and the back

If you like it and want to make one of your own, here are a few tips:

* Sew strips on to any cotton fabric. Good opportunity to use those “uglies” as they won’t be seen when you stitch the layers together
* When you choose the size for your pot holder, allow an extra 1/2 to 1 inch and trim to size after quilting
* Use cotton thread and batting
* You can round off the corners if you don’t want to mitre them when applying the binding
* For safety’s sake, use insulated lining and cotton batting. I used two pieces of batting and sandwiched the insulated lining in between

I’m already thinking of other things to make now that I have discovered my hidden treasure trove. I will just have to remind myself not to cut off really narrow selvages from now on.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sailaway from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ~ Mark Twain